Macrium Reflect Free retired - Any good alternatives?

[films&games]

Hi,

I have been using Macrium Reflect Free to make images of my PCS machine partitions and since it has been retired.

My question is, are there any good free alternatives to Macrium Reflect Free?

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated, please.

Thank you.

 

[films&games]

Who says it's been retired? Ots still available on their website. https://www.macrium.com/reflect-free-faq

The Macrium Reflect Free website only shows Reflect 8 Free as a 30-day trial to download, Reflect 8 Home paid version to buy.

Macrium Reflect Free Trials

Macrium Reflect - Incredibly powerful software that allows you to create and schedule effective backups

www.macrium.com

Macrium Reflect Free is being retired.

I'm sure lots of people make use of the free version of Reflect so it's disappointing to hear they're not going to be releasing free versions after 1st January 2024. But i wanted to canvas opinions on what people intend to do after that time, carry on using the last free version? Find an...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

 

[ubuysa]

Just keep using the free version you have then.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

Do you specifically want imaging rather than backup? What is it you're trying to achieve? What are you backing up to?

 

[films&games]

Do you specifically want imaging rather than backup? What is it you're trying to achieve? What are you backing up to?

I just make a backup image of my boot drive to another internal HDD, drive D and to an external HDD.

I do this to restore a complete image or files if/when I need to.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

I just make a backup image of my boot drive to another internal HDD, drive D and to an external HDD.

I do this to restore a complete image or files if/when I need to.

And what's the reason for that? Have you got a very complex windows configuration?

 

[films&games]

And what's the reason for that? Have you got a very complex windows configuration?

No. I just boot a single OS: Windows 10 Professional. I primarily make a complete backup of my M.2 SSD boot drive, when a new version of Windows 10 is released.

I make a complete backup image and do a clean install using the Windows media creation tool using a USB stick.

Once the new version of the OS is installed, I restore any files that need.

But I do backup files/folders from time-to-time.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

No. I just boot a single OS: Windows 10 Professional. I primarily make a complete backup of my M.2 SSD boot drive, when a new version of Windows 10 is released.

I make a complete backup image and do a clean install using the Windows media creation tool using a USB stick.

Once the new version of the OS is installed, I restore any files that need.

But I do backup files/folders from time-to-time.

Ok, gotcha, makes sense.

I was looking at open source alternatives the other day but it seems a lot have stepped away from simple image or local disk backups to more cloud resources like O365 or from a server point at home baking up endpoints to the cloud.

The ones I've used and like are Paragon and Acronis. Acronis is paid only.

Paragon do do a free version but I'm not certain if that's limited timeframe or open ended, what I've found suggests it's long term

Backup & Recovery Free Edition - Overview

Paragon Backup & Recovery Free Edition is a most powerful free backup solution ever! Take complete control of your PC’s safety. Create a backup of your data today.

www.paragon-software.com

The other age old favourite which is open source is clonezilla, it's a little more "low level" linuxey layout, a little less user friendly, but very reliable

Clonezilla - About

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

The reason I was querying about your backup routines is that, unless you've got data on your C drive, which you never should have, there's not benefit it sounds like to doing image backups. You're doing a windows install anyway, and the data isn't touched as it's not on the C drive.

If the data is on the C drive, it's worth correcting that, there should never be any data held on C.

If you have any difficult to setup software (mainly legacy as most settings config are now backed up to cloud) you can add those config directories to an incremental backup solution which would be far easier to manage and use less resources.

 

[Martinr36]

The ones I've used and like are Paragon and Acronis. Acronis is paid only.

I use Acronis but not sure I'll renew my subscription next time as it wants to take over the system these days, and doesn't like me using windows Defender as AV

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

I use Acronis but not sure I'll renew my subscription next time as it wants to take over the system these days, and doesn't like me using windows Defender as AV

Must admit, haven't used it for a number of years now, that's sad to hear because it was superb.

 

[Martinr36]

Must admit, haven't used it for a number of years now, that's sad to hear because it was superb.

yeah its a subscription service now, and wants to be AV as well as a backup solution, basically it wants to be all singing, all dancing

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

yeah its a subscription service now, and wants to be AV as well as a backup solution, basically it wants to be all singing, all dancing

Sounds like it's mimicking Norton.

Wonder if someone bought it out?

 

[ubuysa]

I've been a Macrium Reflect Free user for years. I image my system drive each night and keep 10 days of images. If I foul up (which I do sometimes because I like messing) or if I even think I might have malware, I just restore the recent image (or an earlier one if necessary). It's way faster than a reinstall and more reliable IMO than system restore.

I intend to continue to use the free version that I have. It does the job.

 

[Martinr36]

Acronis hasn't been bought out as such....however, they have had investment rounds in the past: $147m in 2019 led by Goldman Sachs and then a further $250m from CVC (the company that once owned Formula One) in 2021. Either they are being pressured to make a good return on that investment or it's simply a case of an excellent company becoming a poor one when they get really big and start believing their own hype.

Their history page makes for interesting reading:

Helping The World Get #CyberFit For 22 Years

Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, is proud to celebrate its anniversary. Acronis’ easy, reliable, efficient, secure and private cyber protection solutions are used by 46 percent of Fortune 250 companies and the company’s presence continues to grow.

history.acronis.com

Well as it happened I got an email from Paypal, saying my subscription had auto renewed at a cost of £160 to cover 3 pc's for a year, I've cancelled that & got my refund, so now looking for a backup solution, AV is covered by windows defender

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

Well as it happened I got an email from Paypal, saying my subscription had auto renewed at a cost of £160 to cover 3 pc's for a year, I've cancelled that & got my refund, so now looking for a backup solution, AV is covered by windows defender

I would definitely have a look at paragon free.

Someone previous recommended SyncFolders for incremental

SyncFolders - an easy tool to synchronize or backup your files and folders

SyncFolders, an easy tool to synchronize or backup your files and folders.

www.syncfolders.elementfx.com

 

[Martinr36]

I would definitely have a look at paragon free.

Someone previous recommended SyncFolders for incremental

SyncFolders - an easy tool to synchronize or backup your files and folders

SyncFolders, an easy tool to synchronize or backup your files and folders.

www.syncfolders.elementfx.com

Cheers mate, I'll take a look